With the NHL regular season winding to a close, longtime goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury of the Minnesota Wild has been getting emotional ovations at nearly every rink he visits as he approaches his retirement from professional hockey.
While applause showers down on the goalie affectionately known as “Flower” around the NHL, he is also well-remembered in Cape Breton, where he got his start with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (now Cape Breton Eagles) of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League between 2000 and 2004.
“So when Marc-Andre moved in with us, I was just eight”, said Janelle Hawkins of Westmount, N.S., who was a child when the future Hall of Famer boarded with her family – including parents Bob and Angela Hawkins, and brother Jeff, in the fall of 2000.
At the time, Fleury was only fifteen years old.
Now that Fleury is 40, and Hawkins is an adult, she says watching her former billet brother get so much love before he hangs up his skates at season’s end has been rewarding.
“He appreciates every single applaud in every building, and that’s what’s so nice”, she said.
Drafted from the Screaming Eagles by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the first overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Fleury’s 21 seasons in the NHL have included three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He is second all-time in goalie wins.
He also won the Vezina Trophy as the game’s top goaltender with the Vegas Golden Knights and was part of Canada’s Olympic Gold Medal winning team at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
“It is hard to believe. I mean, where did the time go?” said Paul MacDonald, former president of the Cape Breton Eagles and general manager of Centre 200 in Sydney, N.S., the team’s home rink.
Beyond all of his on-ice achievements, MacDonald said Fleury’s lasting legacy will be how beloved he has been by teammates and fans.
“There will be nobody other like him”, MacDonald said. “Nobody. He just has that way about him. His talent speaks for itself but I think again, his personality and his love for people - and it’s genuine.”
Through all the years, Fleury has stayed in close touch with his Cape Breton billet family.
“Marc-Andre has always been so inclusive of us in his whole career”, Hawkins said.
He hasn’t forgotten the Island, either.
“The fans, the people around Cape Breton have always been very supportive of me and always very friendly to me and my family, and those are things I’ll always cherish”, Fleury said during an interview with CTV Atlantic in May 2021 - during his Vezina-winning season with the Golden Knights.
When the Wild’s season ends and Fleury steps off the ice for the final time, it will be the end of an NHL era - but the beginning of a new chapter for the father of three.
“I mean, there’s a young man who came to Cape Breton with really no expectation or whatever”, MacDonald said. “He was just a genuine kid who really loved playing hockey, and now twenty-odd years later he’s hanging up his skates and heading to the Hall of Fame. It’s incredible, actually.”
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